If you talk to anyone about digital marketing, the topic of "content" is sure to be raised at some point in the conversation. Of course for many SME/SMBs who don't have large marketing budgets to spend on agencies, when it comes to actually putting fingers to keyboards creating the right content can prove to be quite a challenge.
Time poor business owners and marketing teams have to prioritise and take advantage of the best short term opportunities, meaning longer term content planning and production can take a back seat. So here's a base set of content ideas you can use as they are, or adapt and develop to suit your needs and what's more, these can be written by a range of people across your business.
So here are 11 easy win content ideas for any SME/SMB/small marketing team:
- Product feature
- Case studies
- Industry news & commentary
- New business wins
- Staff introductions
- Award wins
- How-to guides & tips
- Answer customers questions
- Photo stories
- Product or service innovation
- Events & activities
Creating regular content can help in a number of ways, it can increase presence in search engines, provide opportunities to share on social media and improve conversion rates through your website. Don't forget to check out or guide to content formatting basics too.
You can find all of our videos on our YouTube Channel (don't forget to like & subscribe) and they will also be posted to the website on a regular basis. We've kept them short to make them digestible and covered just the essentials you need to get going, we want you to get the most of out the platform rather than bamboozling you with detail.
Product or Service Feature
Whether you're running an online store selling a physical product or a business providing a service to the local economy, B2B or B2C, a staple content idea is to talk about your products or services in more detail than you might do on a product page. Think about the nuances of the product or service and include topics which you think your potential customers will want to know about.
Case Studies
Creating real customer case studies (and yes, they have to be real ones) work in a number of ways. They help to establish you as an expert in your field by demonstrating the completion of work successfully, a good case study also shows customer satisfaction, especially with proof points such as quotes.
Industry News
You might not think that changes in your industry are hugely relevant to your website visitors and potential customers, but this go-to content essential is one of the quickest wins. Potential customers will be shopping round among you and your competitors, if your business can demonstrate that it's aware of the latest techniques and topics it could give you that edge to winning more business.
New Business Wins
Sharing new business wins can mean different things to different businesses, think about what's relevant to your business. If you're selling apples, sharing each sale is both impractical and also not important to your potential customers, but sharing news about a new contract you've secured to supply apples to a local restraunt chain is a great win.
Staff Introductions
Two groups of people make a business, staff and customers and you should celebrate the both. Case studies are a great way to celebrate customers, staff introductions are a great way to celebrate your staff, from new starters to those who have been with you from day zero. Staff profiles also help to make your business feel more human, approachable and trustworthy.
Award Wins
Sharing new business wins can mean different things to different businesses, think about what's relevant to your business. If you're selling apples, sharing each sale is both impractical and also not important to your potential customers, but sharing news about a new contract you've secured to supply apples to a local restraunt chain is a great win.
How-to Guides & Tips
This might seem counter intuitive to begin with, why would you tell your current and potential customers how to do things that you can do for them. Truth is, you don't have to give away all of your trade secrets and while some readers will try and give things a go themselves the majority will see just how difficult some things are and choose to get in touch. Showing how you do things will help to build trust with potential customers.
Answer Customers Questions
Whether you get them over the phone, on social media or face to face with customers, questions provide a great source of content topics and the chances are that if one customer asks, a dozen more will also be wondering the same thing. So use this to your advantage and before long you'll have a breadth of content that your audience value.
Photo Stories
Sometimes words just aren't right and photos can say much more, if you're in construction this could be photos from different stages of a project for example. Whatever your sector, a photo story can really bring your business to life for potential customers.
Product or Service Innovation
New products or services that you can offer through your business present a great opportunity to communicate with your audience. Be sure to highlight the benefits to your users though so it doesn't come across too salesy and forceful, while the ultimate aim is increase sales and attract additional purchases they will come in time.
Events & Activities
Whether online only or in the real world, events and activities can provide great stories to share across your digital platforms. Maybe you've given something back to the community or started a new project, documenting things like this across photos, video and written articles can provide excellent opportunities to publish content.
Hopefully these content ideas have given you a great foundation to start creating quick and easy content which can be shared across you digital platforms. Don't forget to self promote your content across your various digital channels too, social media can be a great asset in earning new traffic and potential customers.
